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Frances Harper
| death_place = | resting_place = | occupation = | language = | nationality = | ethnicity = | citizenship = | education = | alma_mater = | period = | genre = Poetry | subject = | movement = | notableworks = Iola Leroy | spouse = Fenton Harper (m. 1860) | partner = | children = | relatives = | influences = | influenced = | awards = | signature = | signature_alt = | website = | portaldisp = }} Frances Ellen Watkins Harper (September 24, 1825 – February 22, 1911) was an African-American poet and an abolitionist. Born free in Baltimore, Maryland, she had a long and prolific career, publishing her first book of poetry at age 20 and her first novel, the widely praised Iola Leroy, at age 67. Life Frances Ellen Watkins was born to free parents in Baltimore, Maryland. After her mother died when she was three years old in 1828, Watkins was orphaned, and was raised by her aunt and uncle. She was educated at the Academy for Negro Youth, a school run by her uncle Rev. William Watkins, who was a civil rights activist. He was a major influence on her life and work.Hollis Robbins, Ed. "Introduction." Iola Leroy, or, Shadows Uplifted. Penguin Classics, 2010Biography: Frances Ellen Watkins, University of Minnesota At fourteen, she found work as a seamstress. Frances Watkins had her first volume of verse, Forest Leaves, published in 1845 (it has been lost). Her second book, Poems on Miscellaneous Subjects, published in 1854, was extremely popular. Over the next few years, it was reprinted in 20 editions. Many African American women's service clubs named themselves in her honor, and across the nation, in cities such as St. Louis, St. Paul, and Pittsburgh, F. E. W. Harper Leagues and Frances E. Harper Women's Christian Temperance Unions thrived well into the twentieth century. In 1850, Watkins moved to Ohio, where she worked as the first woman teacher at Union Seminary, established by the Ohio Conference of the AME Church. (Union closed in 1863 when the AME Church diverted its funds to purchase Wilberforce University.) The school in Wilberforce was run by the Rev. John Brown (not the same as the abolitionist). In 1853, Watkins joined the American Anti-Slavery Society and became a traveling lecturer for the group. In 1854, Watkins delivered her first anti-slavery speech on “Education and the Elevation of Colored Race”. The success of this speech resulted a two-year lecture tour in Maine for the Anti-Slavery Society. She traveled, lecturing throughout the East and Midwest from 1856 to 1860. In 1859, her story “The Two Offers” was published in the Anglo-African Magazine, a great accomplishment as it became the first short story to ever be published by an African American. In 1860, she married Fenton Harper, a widower with three children. They had a daughter together in 1862. For a time Frances withdrew from the lecture circuit. However, after her husband Fenton died in 1864, Watkins returned to her travels and lecturing. Frances Harper was a strong supporter of prohibition and woman's suffrage. She was also active in the Unitarian Church, which supported abolition. She often would read her poetry at the public meetings, including the extremely popular Bury Me in a Free Land. She was connected with national leaders in suffrage, and in 1866 gave a moving speech before the National Women's Rights Convention, demanding equal rights for all, including black women. Watkins was very involved in black organizations. From 1883 to 1890, she helped organize activities for the National Woman’s Christian temperance Union. She also continued with her writing and continued to publish poetry. In 1892 she published Iola Leroy, or Shadows Uplifted. One of the first novels by an African-American woman, it sold well and was reviewed widely.Hollis Robbins, Ed. "Introduction." Iola Leroy, or, Shadows Uplifted. Penguin Classics, 2010 Harper continued with her political activism. She helped organize the National Association of Colored Women in 1896, and was later elected vice president in 1897. Frances Harper died on February 22, 1911. Publications Poetry *''Poems on Miscellaneous Subjects'' (by Francis Ellen Watkins). Boston, J.B. Yerringon, 1854; Philadelphia: Merryhew & Thompson, 1857. **Philadelphia: RHistoric publications, 1970. *''Moses: A Story of the Nile. Philadelphia: Merryhew, 1869. *Poems. Philadelphia: Merryhew & Son, 1871. *''Sketches of Southern Life. Philadelphia: Merryhew & Son, 1872. * Atlanta Offering: Poems. Philadelphia: George S. Ferguson, 1895. *''The Alabama Martyr, and other poems''. 1895.Frances Harper, Oxford Companion to African American Literature, Answers.com, Answers Corporation, Web, Apr. 20, 2012. * Idylls of the Bible. Philadelphia: 1901 * Complete Poems of Frances E.W. Harper (edited by Maryemma Graham). New York: Oxford University Press, 1988. Novels *''Iola Leroy, or Shadows Uplifted. Philadelphia: Garrigues, 1892; Boston: James H. Earle, 1892. * ''Minnie's Sacrifice; Sowing and Reaping; Trial and Triumph: Three Rediscovered Novels by Frances E. W. Harper (edited by Frances Smith Foster). Boston: Beacon Press, 1994. **''Minnie's Sacrifice'' **''Sowing and Reaping: A temperance story. Serialized in the ''Christian Recorder, 1867. **''Trial and Triumph'' Non-fiction *"The Two Offers", 1859 *''Light Beyond the Darkness''. Chicago: Donahue & Henneberry, 189-? *''Enlightened motherhood : an address by Mrs. Frances E.W. Harper, before the Brooklyn Literary Society, November 15th, 1892. Brookly?, 1892?'' Collected editions * A Brighter Coming Day: A Frances Ellen Watkins Harper reader (edited by Frances Smith Foster). New York: Feminist Press, 1980. *''Collected Works of Frances Ellen Watkins Harper''. Charleston, SC: Bibliobazaar, 2007. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:Frances Harper, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, See also *List of U.S. poets References *Frances Smith Foster, ed., A Brighter Coming Day: A Frances Ellen Watkins Harper Reader, 1990. *Frances Smith Foster, ed., Minnie's Sacrifice, Sowing and Reaping, Trial and Triumph: Three Rediscovered Novels by Frances E. W. Harper, 1994. *Melba Joyce Boyd, Discarded Legacy: Politics and Poetics in the Life of Frances E. W. Harper, 1825–1911, 1994. *Shockley, Ann Allen, Afro-American Women Writers 1746-1933: An Anthology and Critical Guide, New Haven, Connecticut: Meridian Books, 1989. ISBN 0-452-00981-2 *Maryemma Graham, ed., The Complete Poems of Frances E. W. Harper, 1988. *Hazel Carby, "Introduction to Iola Leroy. Beacon Press, 1987. *John Ernest, Resistance and Reformation in Nineteenth-Century African-American Literature, 1995 Notes External links ;Poems * Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, "Free Labor" *Selected Poetry of Frances Ellen Watkins (1825-1911) (3 poems) at Representative Poetry Online. * Frances Ellen Watkins Harper at the Poetry Foundation. * Frances Ellen Watkins Harper at PoemHunter (78 poems). ;Books * ;About * Frances Harper at Spartacus Educational. *Frances Harper in the Oxford Companion to African American Literature. *Frances E.W. Harper at NNDB. *Frances Ellen Watkins at Voices from the Gaps. *Frances Ellen Watkins Harper (1825-1911) at Archives of Maryland. * Category:American poets Category:American novelists Category:African American writers Category:African American poets Category:African American female poets Category:American abolitionists Category:African American female writers Category:Rhetoricians Category:Writers from Maryland Category:People from Baltimore, Maryland Category:1825 births Category:1911 deaths Category:19th-century poets Category:19th-century women writers Category:English-language poets Category:Poets Category:Women poets Category:American women writers